Battery with tester label and method for producing it

ABSTRACT

A battery encased with a label containing an integral test circuit device that is thermally insulated from the battery by an expanded material and is activated by depressing a selected area of the label whereupon a thermally sensitive material associated with the test circuit displays whether the battery has capacity. A method for producing the test circuit device is also disclosed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a battery tester device that forms an integralpart of the label encasing a battery.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Batteries are generally stored for various periods of time before beingput into use. The batteries can be stored by the seller and frequentlywhen purchased they are again stored by the buyer prior to being put touse. It is therefore desired to have some sort of testing means fordetermining if a battery has sufficient charge to operate a desireddevice. Initially, separate battery testers were developed which couldmeasure the strength remaining in the battery. Recently battery testershave been developed that either are included in the battery package orassembled in the label secured to the battery. The testers generallyindicate the capacity remaining in the battery.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,564 discloses a device for testing a battery,particularly a small, portable battery, comprising a flexible,transparent substrate on which is deposited a narrow band of a blacklight absorbing material. A conductive material, which may taperoutwardly in opposite directions from a central point to a pair of outerterminals, is then deposited atop the substrate on the same side of thesubstrate as the absorber layer or on the opposite side of the substrateas the absorber layer. A layer of a chloesteric liquid crystal materialis then deposited on the substrate on the opposite side from the blackabsorber layer or over the absorber layer. The conductive material is anepoxy cement-based conductor, preferably silver, printed or painteddirectly on the substrate. An indicator scale is located along sectionsof the conductive material. To test a dry cell battery, the terminalends of the conductive material are placed in contact with the batteryterminals, causing a current to flow which heats the conductivematerial, the heat generated being the most intense at the central pointand radiating outwardly. The heat is transferred through the thinsubstrate to the liquid crystal layer which results in a color change inthe liquid crystal. The traverse of the color change along the length ofthe indicator scale, outwardly from the center point, is proportional tothe current or voltage output or the condition of the battery to betested and can be read on the indicator scale which is calibratedaccordingly. The tester also includes means for determining theamp-hours or life of a battery.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,544 discloses a battery strength indicating andswitch means on a battery which is coupled across the terminals of thebattery and which is provided with an indicating means to indicate thestrength of the battery and in addition, the battery strength indicatingmeans is also provided with an in-line switch which can easily bedepressed to complete the circuit so as to place the indicator meansacross the terminals of the cell and display the charge of the battery.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,895 discloses a battery voltmeter comprising:

(A) a dielectric layer;

(B) a conductive layer above or below one of the surfaces of thedielectric layer; and

(C) a temperature sensitive color indicator layer in thermal contactwith the conductive layer, characterized in that the conductive layerhas (i) thermal insulating means under one of its surfaces and (ii)sufficient heat generating capacity to affect a change in thetemperature sensitive color indicator layer. The voltmeter can beintegrated into a label and attached directly to a battery.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,475 discloses an apparatus for indicating theelectromotive force of a dry battery which comprises:

(i) a film base;

(ii) an electrically conductive layer disposed on one side of the filmbase,

(iii) a protective layer disposed on the electrically conductive layer,and

(iv) a thermochromic layer disposed on the other side of the film base.

An object of the present invention is to provide a battery tester devicewhich is assembled with the battery label and which has few componentsthus making it easy to assemble.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a battery testerdevice integral with the battery label that is cost effective to produceand suitable for efficient automatic assembly operation.

Another object is to provide a method for assembly of the battery testerlabel onto a battery.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a battery having a first terminal and a secondterminal of opposite polarity; said battery at least partially encasedwith a nonconductive film having a top surface and a bottom surface andsaid film defining a first opening exposing a segment of the firstterminal and a spaced apart second opening exposing a segment of thesecond terminal; an expanded insulating material disposed between saidfirst opening and said second opening; a conductive circuit layerdisposed and secured over the first opening, second opening and expandedinsulating material so that a first segment of the conductive circuitlayer can be deflected through the first opening to contact the firstterminal, a second segment of the conductive circuit layer can bedeflected through the second opening to contact the second terminal andthe remaining segment of the conductive circuit layer is electricallyand thermally insulated from the battery housing by the expandedinsulating material; a thermally sensitive material disposed inresponsive contact with the conductive circuit layer such that when thefirst segment and second segment of the conductive circuit layer contactthe first terminal and second terminal, respectively, of the battery, acurrent will flow through the conductive circuit layer heating thethermally sensitive material which in turn will indicate the chargecondition of the battery.

The invention also relates to a method for preparing and attaching abattery test label to a battery comprising the steps:

(a) preparing a nonconductive base film having a top surface and abottom surface and producing in said film a first opening and a spacedapart second opening; and depositing an expanded insulating material onsaid base film between said first opening and said second opening;

(b) preparing a conductive circuit layer with a thermally sensitivematerial secured to and in thermal contact with the conductive circuitlayer and securing the conductive circuit layer onto the top surface ofthe film and over the first opening, the second opening and the expandedinsulating material such that a selected first area of the conductivecircuit over the first opening can be deflected into and below saidfirst opening, a selected second area of the conductive circuit over thesecond opening can be deflected into and below said second opening whilethe expanded insulating material provides an electrical and thermalinsulating layer for at least a portion of the remaining conductivecircuit layer between said first opening and said second opening;

(c) optionally securing a nonconductive outer film over at least the topsurface of the base film containing the conductive layer; and

(d) adhering the bottom surface of the base film to the housing of abattery having a first terminal and second terminal of opposite polaritysuch that the first opening is positioned over the first terminal andthe second opening is positioned over the second terminal so that saidfirst selected area can be deflected to contact the first terminal andsaid second selected area can be deflected to contact the secondterminal to complete an electrical circuit in which current will flowthrough the conductive circuit layer creating heat that will be detectedand displayed by the thermally sensitive material and said expandedinsulating material providing an electrical and thermal insulating layerfor at least the portion of the conductive circuit layer between saidfirst opening and said second opening.

The first and second openings could be sized from 0.001 square inch to0.008 square inch and preferably from 0.002 square inch to 0.005 squareinch. The smaller end of the range would be for the smaller size cellssuch as the AAA size cells. This is due to the different curvature ofthe cylindrical cells with the D-size cells having a larger diameterthan the smaller size AAA cells. The first and second openings could besized 0.001 to 0.003 square inch for the AAA size cell, 0.002 to 0.004square inch for the AA size cell and 0.003 to 0.008 square inch for theD size cell. Preferably, the second opening could be a slot or grooveopening at the edge of the base film so that the conductive circuitcould be deflected to contact the cover of the cell. Thus the size ofthe second opening could be considerably larger than the size of thefirst opening. For example, the second opening could exceed 0.01 squareinch.

In the embodiment of the invention, an outer film can be disposed overthe base film containing the battery tester device and said basematerial and/or the outer film can contain printed and graphic designmatter for the battery. A suitable outer film would be polyester,polyvinyl chloride or the like. The batteries useful in this inventionare primary or secondary batteries that have positive and negativeterminals. The batteries are generally comprised of an anode, a cathodeand electrolyte contained in a sealed housing. The housing typically hasan opening in one end that is sealed and closed with a cover. This coveris usually in electrical contact with either the cathode or anode toprovide a terminal of the battery while the terminal of oppositepolarity, generally the battery housing, is usually in electricalcontact with the other electrode. The test device label of thisinvention, in addition to providing a label for the battery, provides atest device that can be integral with the label and thereafter becomesan integral part of the battery. The test device operates such that bydepressing one or two selected areas of the conductive circuit layer,the circuit is completed between the terminals of the battery via theconductive circuit layer which in turn generates heat which is detectedby the thermally sensitive material to provide a visual indication ofthe strength of the battery. If the conductive circuit layer is disposedclose to the housing of the battery which is usually a metallicmaterial, then such housing can be used as a heat sink. If this occurs,the heat generated in the conductive circuit layer may be insufficientto be properly detected by the thermally sensitive material and maythereby provide inaccurate information as to the strength of thebattery. In the present invention, an expanded insulating material, suchas foaming ink, e.g., Kopack Decorative Effect UV Ink (DE Ink) obtainedcommercially from Kopack Company, is deposited on the base film underthe conductive circuit layer which will act as a thermal and electricalinsulation for the conductive layer. The expanded insulating materialmay be formed on the base film as a unitary solid shape or as aplurality of circular, square, rectangular, triangular or any polygonalshapes or as shaped openings in a solid shape. The individual shapes oropenings could be uniformly spaced apart so that the area between theindividual shapes or in the openings could accommodate air which couldadd to the thermal insulation characteristics of the expanded material.Preferably, the shapes or openings of the expanded insulating materialcould be circular and spaced apart so that air could be trapped betweenthe adjacent expanded shapes or in the openings. Preferably, theexpanded insulating material should have a porosity of at least 10percent, and more preferably at least 50 percent and most preferably atleast 75 percent. Porosity is the percent of void volume in thematerial. The porosity of the material can be as high as possible aslong as there is sufficient mechanical strength to handle the material.The preferred area of the individual openings could be from 0.0001square inch to 0.008 square inch, preferably from 0.002 square inch to0.006 and most preferably from 0.003 square inch to 0.005 square inch,while the preferred area of the individual shapes could be from 0.0002square inch to 0.01 square inch, preferably from 0.0008 square inch to0.003 square inch. For AAA size cells the area of the individualexpanded shapes would be at the lower end of the range while the D sizecells would generally be on the higher end of the range. Suitableexpanded insulating materials for use in this invention are foaminginks, acrylic foams, PVC foams and polyethylene foams. Thus the expandedmaterial will function as a thermal and electrical insulator for theconductive circuit layer. In this arrangement, a minimum number of partsare required to produce a battery label having an integral batterytester device for checking whether the battery is charged.

The base film can be made of any desired dielectric polymer material. Itis preferable to use a dielectric polymer material that will shrink whenassembled on a battery. Generally, polyvinyl resins, polyolefin resins,polyester resins and the like would be suitable. Specific examples wouldbe polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, and polypropylene. The thickness ofthe film is not particularly limited but could be in the range of about0.0005 to 0.005 inch, preferably 0.001 to 0.003 inch.

The electrically conductive circuit layer can be a metallic foil such assilver, nickel, iron, copper, lead, etc., and mixtures thereof or ametallized plastic layer. Other examples include electrically conductivepolymers, paints or inks, such as those that contain graphite, carbon ormetals such as silver or combinations thereof which could be appliedonto a substrate as the conductive layer. Hot stamping of conductivematerial onto the substrate could also be used. Preferably, theconductive circuit layer is formed as a separate part, preferably on anonconductive substrate and shaped to have first and second segment endsthat are connected to each other via an area of controlled resistivity.The first segment is provided to contact a first terminal of the batteryand the second segment is provided to make contact with the secondterminal of the battery. Thus, when the conductive circuit layer makescontact with both terminals of the battery, an electric current willflow through the area of controlled resistivity which will heat theconductive circuit layer to a range sufficient to activate the thermallysensitive material. The resistance in the area of controlled resistivitycan vary or it can be constant dependent on the particular applicationof use.

The testing means also comprises a means for indicating the capacity ofthe battery. The indicating means will be in responsive contact with thearea of controlled resistivity and will respond to and indicate thecapacity of the battery. For example, a temperature will be generated inthat area when a current flows through the conductive circuit layer.Thermally sensitive material will be in thermally transferable contactwith the area of controlled resistivity and will indicate to theconsumer the capacity of the battery. This indication can be qualitativesuch as a "good" reading, or quantitative such as a remaining percentageof useful life. The thermally sensitive materials could change color inresponse to a temperature change and such change in the material wouldbe readily viewable by a consumer. Thus the consumer, based on the colorchange, can determine whether the battery is good or needs to bereplaced. Examples of such thermally sensitive materials are liquidcrystal materials and thermochromic inks. Examples of suitable liquidcrystal materials are of the cholesteric type, such as cholesteryloleate, cholesteryl chloride, cholesteryl caprylate and the like.Examples of suitable color thermochromic inks include those comprised ofa dye, developer and desensitizing agent that are disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 4,835,475, herein incorporated by reference. The color indicatormaterial could change from colored to colorless, colorless to colored,or one color to a second color.

The indicating materials such as thermochromic inks can be used singlyor in combination. For example, in one embodiment different layers ofthe indicating material could be employed. The layers are activated atdifferent temperatures or states and can be designed to change differentcolors at different temperatures. For example, the layer of materialactivated at the highest temperature will preferably be the bottomlayer, and the upper layers are arranged in decreasing temperatures ofactivation with lowest temperature material in the top layer.

Either one or both terminal contact segment ends of the conductivecircuit could be out of contact with the respective terminals of thebattery so that the tester circuit is open. In one embodiment of theinvention either the anode or cathode is in electrical contact with theconductive housing of the battery. In this embodiment, one of theterminal contact segments ends of the tester circuit can be permanentlyconnected to one terminal of the housing while the other contact end ispositioned out of contact with the other terminal of the housing by anopening in the base layer disposed between the housing and the segmentend of the tester circuit. This opening can act as a switch for thetester circuit. By forcing the circuit contact segment end into contactwith the housing through the opening, the switch is closed and thetester circuit is completed to test the battery. This contact can beconveniently made by applying finger or thumb pressure to the switchareas.

The labels useful in this invention can also comprise additionalinsulative layers, printing layers, protective layers and the like.Suitable materials for use as the different layers are those typicallyused in battery labels and include plasticized or unplasticizedpolyvinyl chloride (UPVC), polyesters, metallic films, paper and like,and they are prepared by known methods, such as laminating the layerstogether. The label can be attached to the battery by the use of anadhesive.

The tester label can be in the form of a single ply label or shrinkabletube label in which a battery is encased.

A preferred tester label is comprised of a base insulative film adheredto the housing of the battery by a suitable adhesive. The housing is inelectrical contact with either the anode or cathode of the battery. Theinsulative film has two openings in it for contact with the cellterminals. A separate tester circuit assembly is placed on the topsurface of this insulative film and one of the terminal contact segmentends of the circuit is aligned with one of the openings in the basefilm. The other terminal contact segment end of the circuit is alignedwith the second opening and is in contact with and secured to theterminal of the battery (generally the cover) that is not in contactwith the housing. The area of the base film onto which the testercircuit is placed contains a material as described above to function asan electrical and thermal insulation means for said tester circuit. Thethermal indicating material is placed over the area of controlledresistivity of the circuit. The indicating material can be placeddirectly on the tester circuit or it can be placed on a separate layerthat is placed over the tester circuit. Preferably, the indicatingmaterial is a thermochromic ink and is in thermally transferable contactwith the area of controlled resistivity. Finally, a protective layer canbe placed over the indicating material. The type of protective layer isselected so that the indicating material can be observed by the user. Totest the battery, the user will press the label at the point above oneor both openings in the insulator film to establish contact with theterminals of the battery housing. As the circuit is completed, atemperature increase will be generated in the area of controlledresistivity which will be transferred to the indicating material. If thedesired temperature level is reached, the indicating material will soindicate and the user can determine the amount of capacity remaining inthe battery.

One way to dispense the test circuit label on the battery in acontinuous operation is to first prepare a base film, such as a plasticfilm, made with graphics and printed matter on the top side along with afirst opening, second opening and the deposited expanded insulatingmaterial. An adhesive was added to the bottom side which was then joinedto a releasable material such as silicone-coated release paper to form alabel carrier. In a separate operation, a desired shaped circuit testerlayer is deposited on a substrate along with a thermally sensitivematerial such as thermochromic ink and an adhesive has been added to thebottom surface of the substrate leaving the appropriate test circuitsegment ends free of the adhesive. The adhesive side is joined with areleasable paper such as silicone-coated paper and then wound on a roll.The tester circuit roll containing the individual circuit tester devicesis placed in a dispensing machine to feed the test circuit devices ontothe base layer in a fixed time sequence. Means on the machine detectswhen the area of the label containing the openings reaches a specificlocation whereupon a test circuit device cut to a desired size isdispensed without the releasable paper web and positioned over andsecured to the selected area of the base label. If desired, additionalgraphics could be printed on the base label and/or the test circuitlayer before an outer layer is secured to the base layer. The completedbase layer is cut to a desired size and then fed to another area wherethe silicone-coated paper is removed and the label is secured to thehousing of the battery. If desired, graphics could be placed on theouter layer of the label.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1a is an exploded view of the various components of a test circuitlabel of this invention.

FIG. 1b is an isometric view of another embodiment of an expandedinsulating material having a plurality of openings.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a continuous sheet of label carrier containingindividual test circuit devices of this invention.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a cell employing the test circuit deviceof this invention.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a cell employing the test circuit deviceof this invention encased in an outer layer.

Referring to FIG. 1a there is shown a base film 2 such as PVC, which hasa first opening 4, a second opening 6 in the form of a slot and disposedbetween opening 4 and opening 6 is a plurality of circular spaced apartshapes 8 of an expanded insulating material. As stated above, the shapescould be any polygonal shapes such as circles, squares, triangles,rectangles or the like. To prevent inadvertent shorting of the testcomponent 10 to the cell housing, an insulating material 9 is placedaround opening 4. Preferably, insulating material could be an expandedinsulating material. Shown in FIG. 1b is a second embodiment of theinvention in which the expanded insulating material is a solid material13 having a plurality of openings 15. A conductive layer 10 isselectively shaped so that it can be placed over opening 4, opening 6and at least some of the plurality of expanded shapes 8 or openings 15.Opening 4 is sufficiently large so that conductive segment layer 12 canbe depressed into and through opening 4. Opening 6 is in the form of anotch so that conductive segment layer 14 can be depressed into andthrough notch 6 to contact a terminal of the cell. On top of conductivelayer 10 is a thermally sensitive material 16 such as a thermochromicmaterial, which will change color upon detection of a particulartemperature level. As shown in FIG. 2, conductive layer 10 is shownsecured on base film 2 releasably secured to carrier layer 11, such as asilicone web, and disposed over opening 4, opening 6 and the pluralityof expanded shapes 8 of the first embodiment of this invention. Disposedon top of conductive layer 10 is thermally sensitive material 16. Ifdesired, a nonconductive film or coating (not shown) could be disposedover base film 2 thereby further securing conductive layer 10 andthermally sensitive material to base film 2. This top layer could havean adhesive side to secure to the base film 2. This nonconductive filmcould be in the form of a tube that could be heat shrunk onto the cellafter the label is applied to the cell. Base film 2 has an adhesivelayer 19 on its bottom surface (shown in FIG. 1) which is secured to abattery as shown in FIG. 3. Specifically, FIG. 3 shows a battery testlabel 17 on base film 2 (not shown) secured to the housing of battery20. Conductive segment layer 14 can be in electrical contact with cover22 which represents one terminal of battery 20. This conductive segmentlayer 14 can be permanently connected to conductive cover 22. Theconductive segment layer 12 is disposed over opening 4 and is spacedapart from the cylindrical housing 24 of the battery 20 which is thesecond terminal of the battery 20. Thus the circuit between the twoterminals of battery 20 via conductive segment layers 12 and 14 is open.To close the circuit, pressure is applied on the flexible upper layerabove opening 4 in the base film. The pressure will cause the conductivesegment layer 12 to make electrical contact with the battery housing 24through opening 4. Rigidity and springback in the label will causeconductive segment layer 12 to break contact with housing 24 when thepressure is released. If desired, conductive segment layer 14 can alsobe spaced apart from the cover 22 so that to complete the circuit,pressure will have to be simultaneously applied to the flexible upperlayer above both openings 4 and 6 in the base film. When the pressure isreleased, conductive layer segments 12 and 14 will spring back and breakcontact with the housing 24 and cover 22, respectively. As stated above,suitable graphics and printed matter can be placed on the base layer,conductive layer, thermally sensitive material and/or the outer layer.

As shown in FIG. 4, an outer layer 1 contains designated areas 3 and 5which correspond to the first terminal area and second terminal area,respectively, of the cell. Designated area 7 exposes an area of thethermally sensitive material so that when areas 3 and 5 are depressed, acircuit is completed and the thermally sensitive material will changecolor to indicate the state of charge of the cell. If desired, eitherarea 5 or area 3 could be permanently secured to the second terminal sothat only area 3 or area 5, respectively, would have to be depressed tocomplete the circuit.

This invention has been described in detail with particular reference topreferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variationsand modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of theinvention. For example, an adhesive strip could be secured over theconductive circuit layer containing the thermally sensitive material sothat the conductive circuit layer could be secured to the base filmusing the adhesive strip.

What is claimed:
 1. A tester label assemble on a battery having a firstterminal and a second terminal of opposite polarity; said battery testerlabel consisting essentially of a nonconductive film at least partiallyencasing said battery and having a top surface and bottom surface andsaid film defining a first opening exposing a segment of the firstterminal and a spaced apart second opening exposing a segment of thesecond terminal of the battery; an expanded thermal and electricalinsulating material disposed on the top surface of the nonconductivefilm between said first opening and said second opening, wherein saidexpanded insulating material is selected from the group consisting offoaming inks, PVC foams, acrylic foams and polyethylene foams and saidexpanded insulating material has a porosity of at least 10 percent; aconductive circuit layer disposed over the first opening, the secondopening, and at least a portion of the expanded insulating material sothat a first segment of conductive circuit layer can be deflectedthrough the first opening to contact the first terminal, a secondsegment of the conductive circuit layer can be deflected through thesecond opening to contact the second terminal with the remaining segmentof the conductive circuit layer being electrically and thermallyinsulated from the terminals of the battery by the expanded insulatingmaterial; a thermally sensitive material disposed in responsive contactwith the conductive circuit layer such that when the first segment andsecond segment of the conductive circuit layer contact the firstterminal and second terminal respectively, a current will flow throughthe conductive layer and heat the thermally sensitive material whichwill indicate the capacity of the battery.
 2. A tester label assembledon a battery having a first terminal and a second terminal of oppositepolarity; said battery tester consisting essentially of a nonconductivefilm at least partially encasing said battery and having a top surfaceand bottom surface and said film defining a first opening exposing asegment of the first terminal and a spaced apart second opening exposinga segment of the second terminal of the battery; an expanded thermal andelectrical insulating material disposed on the top surface of thenonconductive film between said first opening and said second openingwherein said expanded insulating material is in the form of separateindividual shapes or a single layer having a plurality of openings insaid expanded insulating material and said insulating material isselected from the group consisting of foaming inks, PVC foams, acrylicfoams and polyethylene foams and said expanded insulating material has aporosity of at least 10 percent; a conductive circuit layer disposedover the first opening, the second opening, and at least a portion ofthe expanded insulating material so that a first segment of conductivecircuit layer can be deflected through the first opening to contact thefirst terminal, a second segment of the conductive circuit layer can bedeflected through the second opening to contact the second terminal withthe remaining segment of the conductive circuit layer being electricallyand thermally insulated from the terminals of the battery by theexpanded insulating material; a thermally sensitive material disposed inresponsive contact with the conductive circuit layer such that when thefirst segment and second segment of the conductive circuit layer contactthe first terminal and second terminal respectively, a current will flowthrough the conductive layer and heat the thermally sensitive materialwhich will indicate the capacity of the battery.
 3. The battery testerlabel of claim 1 wherein the expanded insulating material is a singlelayer having a plurality of openings in said material.
 4. The batterytester label of claim 1 wherein the battery comprises a housing composedof a cylindrical container closed at one end and open at the oppositeend and said container forming the first terminal of the battery; acover secured over and electrically insulated from the open end of thecontainer and said cover forming the second terminal of the battery,said first segment of the conductive circuit layer disposed over thefirst opening and spaced from the first terminal, and said secondsegment of the conductive circuit layer disposed over the second openingand spaced from the second terminal.
 5. The battery tester label ofclaim 1 wherein a heat shrunk film is secured over the battery.
 6. Thebattery tester label of claim 1 wherein the conductive circuit layer isselected from the group consisting of silver, nickel, iron, copper,carbon, lead, conductive paint, conductive ink and mixtures thereof. 7.The battery tester label of claim 6 wherein the conductive circuit layeris silver.
 8. The battery tester label of claim 1 wherein the thermallysensitive material is selected from the group consisting ofthermochromic ink and liquid crystal material.
 9. The battery testerlabel of claim 7 wherein the thermally sensitive material isthermochromic ink.
 10. The battery tester label of claim 1 wherein oneof said segments of the conductive circuit layer is permanently securedto the terminal.
 11. A method for preparing and attaching a batterytester label to a battery comprising the steps:(a) preparing anonconductive base film having a top surface and a bottom surface andproducing in said film a first opening and a spaced apart secondopening; and depositing an expanded insulating material on said basefilm between said first opening and said second opening selected fromthe group consisting of foaming inks, PVC foams, acrylic foams andpolyethylene foams and said expanded insulating material having aporosity of at least 10 percent; (b) preparing a conductive circuitlayer and securing a thermally sensitive material to the top surface ofsaid conductive circuit layer and securing the bottom surface of theconductive circuit layer onto the top surface of the base film over thefirst opening, the second opening and at least a portion of the expandedinsulating material such that a selected first area of the conductivecircuit layer can deflect into and through said first opening, aselected second area of the conductive circuit layer can deflect intoand through the second opening while the expanded material provides anelectrical and thermal insulator for at least a portion of the remainingconductive circuit layer between the first opening and second opening;and (c) adhering the bottom surface of the base film to the housing of abattery having a first terminal and second terminal of opposite polaritysuch that the first opening is positioned over the first terminal andthe second opening is positioned over the second terminal so that saidfirst selected area can be deflected to contact only the first terminaland said second selected area can be deflected to contact the secondterminal to complete an electrical circuit between the terminals thatwill cause current to flow through the conductive circuit layer creatingheat that will be detected by the thermally sensitive material.
 12. Themethod for claim 11 wherein in step (a) the base film has an adhesivelayer on its bottom surface ad a releasable film disposed over theadhesive layer and in step (c) the releasable film is removed and thebottom surface of the base film is secured to the housing of the batteryusing the adhesive layer.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein in step (b)the bottom surface of the conductive circuit layer has an adhesive layerwith the selected first area of the conductive circuit layer and theselected second area of the conductive circuit layer free of saidadhesive, and a releasable layer film disposed over the adhesive layerand in step (b) the releasable layer is removed prior to securing theconductive circuit layer to the base film using the adhesive layer. 14.The method of claim 11 wherein the following step is added:d) securing aconductive film over the base film containing the conductive circuitlayer and thermally sensitive material.
 15. The method of claim 11wherein in step (a) the first opening is an enclosed defined opening andthe second opening is a slot at the edge of the base film.
 16. Themethod of claim 11 wherein in step (a) the expanded insulating materialis in the form of individual shapes selected from the group consistingof circles, squares, triangles and rectangles.
 17. The method of claim11 wherein in step (b) the expanded insulating material is a singlelayer having a plurality of openings in said layer.
 18. The method ofclaim 11 wherein in step (a) the thermally sensitive material is athermochromic ink and the conductive circuit layer is silver.
 19. Themethod of claim 14 wherein in step (a) the conductive circuit layer issilver, the thermally sensitive material is thermochromic ink and theexpanded insulating material is in the form of a solid material having aplurality of openings.